Staff

Matt Moonen, Executive DirectorRep. Matt Moonen is serving his second term representing part of Portland in the Maine House of Representatives. He is a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation, the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary, and the Joint Select Committee on Joint Rules. Matt is a longtime leader in progressive politics in Maine. He was political director of EqualityMaine, where he was one of the senior strategists in the successful passage of the 2009 marriage-equality bill and the historic No on 1: Protect Maine Equality campaign. More recently, he worked with Maine Citizens for Clean Elections to preserve Maine’s strong campaign finance laws and reduce the influence of big money in government. Matt also volunteered on the successful campaign to preserve same-day voter registration rights, and is the former Vice-Chair of the Portland Democratic City Committee.

Pronouns: He, Him, His

Christopher O’Connor, Development Director, is thrilled to join us after sixteen years of working in student affairs at the University of Southern Maine. Originally from NJ, he moved to Maine several years after receiving his Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has been an active member of the LGBT community in Portland for many years. Most recently, he provided leadership for the creation of Pride Portland!, the community-based organization that revived and expanded Portland’s annual pride celebration. Chris’ passion has always been in social justice work and he is thrilled to bring his knowledge and skills in event planning, community organizing and relationship building to EqualityMaine. When he’s not working or spending time with his dog, Chico, you can find him wearing his other hat, DJing at STYXX Nightclub in Portland.

Pronouns: He, him, his

Gia Drew, Program Director, is an educator, writer, and athlete who started working for EQME in January 2014. She had been a volunteer for several years, including working on the marriage campaign in 2012. While orginally from Boston, Gia has called Maine home for fifteen years. After earning degrees from Syracuse University and Savannah College of Art and Design, Gia was as a high school teacher and coach for twenty years, and in that time she became of of Maine's first OUT transgender public school teachers and one of the first transgender high school coaches in the country.
Pronouns: she, her, hers

Thomas Sumner, Bookkeeper, is the owner of Sumner Bookkeeping. He has been EqualityMaine's part-time bookkeeper since April 2002. He lives in Westbrook with his partner, John, and is the proud grandfather of three children.
Pronouns: He, him, his

Why do we list our pronouns?
Names aren’t the only way we refer to people. We share our preferred gender pronouns, and encourage you to do the same. Preferred gender pronouns are the way you like to be referred to as: she, her, hers; they, them, theirs; he, him, his; or something else. We share these because we want to start practicing the skill of not assuming other people’s gender. You may hear people using they/them/theirs because these are some of the gender-neutral pronouns available to us. EqualityMaine is dedicated to serving all members of the LGBT community, this means being thoughtful and respectful to our transgender and gender non-conforming community members.